Ethanol is rapidly becoming a major hydrogen-rich liquid transport fuel around the world. Worldwide consumption of ethanol in 2005 was an estimated 12.2 billion gallons. The global market for the fuel ethanol industry has also been predicted to continue to grow sharply in future, due to an increased interest in ethanol in Europe, Japan, the USA and several developing nations.
For example, in the USA, ethanol is used to produce E10, a 10% mixture of ethanol in gasoline. In E10 blends, the ethanol component acts as an oxygenating agent, improving the efficiency of combustion and reducing the production of air pollutants. In Brazil, ethanol satisfies approximately 30% of the transport fuel demand, as both an oxygenating agent blended in gasoline, and as a pure fuel in its own right. Also, in Europe, environmental concerns surrounding the consequences of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions have been the stimulus for the European Union (EU) to set member nations a mandated target for the consumption of sustainable transport fuels such as biomass derived ethanol.
The vast majority of fuel ethanol is produced via traditional yeast-based fermentation processes that use crop derived carbohydrates, such as sucrose extracted from sugarcane or starch extracted from grain crops, as the main carbon source. However, the cost of these carbohydrate feed stocks is influenced by their value as human food or animal feed, and the cultivation of starch or sucrose-producing crops for ethanol production is not economically sustainable in all geographies. Therefore, it is of interest to develop technologies to convert lower cost and/or more abundant carbon resources into fuel ethanol.
CO is a major, free, energy-rich by-product of the incomplete combustion of organic materials such as coal or oil and oil derived products. For example, the steel industry in Australia is reported to produce and release into the atmosphere over 500,000 tonnes of CO annually.
Catalytic processes may be used to convert gases consisting primarily of CO and/or CO and hydrogen (H2) into a variety of fuels and chemicals. Micro-organisms may also be used to convert these gases into fuels and chemicals. These biological processes, although generally slower than chemical reactions, have several advantages over catalytic processes, including higher specificity, higher yields, lower energy costs and greater resistance to poisoning.
The ability of micro-organisms to grow on CO as a sole carbon source was first discovered in 1903. This was later determined to be a property of organisms that use the acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl CoA) biochemical pathway of autotrophic growth (also known as the Woods-Ljungdahl pathway and the carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl CoA synthase (CODH/ACS) pathway). A large number of anaerobic organisms including carboxydotrophic, photosynthetic, methanogenic and acetogenic organisms have been shown to metabolize CO to various end products, namely CO2, H2, methane, n-butanol, acetate and ethanol. While using CO as the sole carbon source, all such organisms produce at least two of these end products.
Anaerobic bacteria, such as those from the genus Clostridium, have been demonstrated to produce ethanol from CO, CO2 and H2 via the acetyl CoA biochemical pathway. For example, various strains of Clostridium Ijungdahlii that produce ethanol from gases are described in WO 00/68407, EP 117309, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,173,429, 5,593,886, and 6,368,819, WO 98/00558 and WO 02/08438. The bacterium Clostridium autoethanogenum sp is also known to produce ethanol from gases (Abrini et al., Archives of Microbiology 161, pp 345-351 (1994)).
However, ethanol production by micro-organisms by fermentation of gases is typically associated with co-production of acetate and/or acetic acid. As some of the available carbon is converted into acetate/acetic acid rather than ethanol, the efficiency of production of ethanol using such fermentation processes may be less than desirable. Also, unless the acetate/acetic acid by-product can be used for some other purpose, it may pose a waste disposal problem. Acetate/acetic acid is converted to methane by micro-organisms and therefore has the potential to contribute to GHG emissions.
Several enzymes known to be associated with the ability of micro-organisms to use carbon monoxide as their sole source of carbon and energy are known to require metal co-factors for their activity. Examples of key enzymes requiring metal cofactor binding for activity include carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH), and acetyl-CoA synthase (ACS).
WO2007/117157, WO2008/115080, WO2009/022925, WO2009/058028, WO2009/064200, WO2009/064201 and WO2009/113878, the disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe processes that produce alcohols, particularly ethanol, by anaerobic fermentation of gases containing carbon monoxide. Acetate produced as a by-product of the fermentation process described in WO2007/117157 is converted into hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide gas, either or both of which may be used in the anaerobic fermentation process. WO2009/022925 discloses the effect of pH and ORP in the conversion of substrates comprising CO to products such as acids and alcohols by fermentation. WO2009/058028 describes the use of industrial waste gases for the production of products, such as alcohol, by fermentation. WO2009/064201 discloses carriers for CO and the use of CO in fermentation. WO2009/113878 discloses the conversion of acid(s) to alcohol(s) during fermentation of a substrate comprising CO.
Microbes capable of growing on CO-containing gases are known to do so at a slower rate than is traditionally associated with microbes grown on sugars. From a commercial perspective, in a fermentation process the time required for a microbial population to grow to a sufficiently high cell density to allow an economically viable level of product to be synthesised, is a key operating cost affecting the profitability of the process. Technologies that act to enhance culture growth rates and/or productivities and therefore reduce the time required to reach desired cell densities and/or desired product levels and may serve to improve the commercial viability of the overall process.
In fermentation processes dedicated to the production of alcohols from gaseous feedstocks, ensuring that the appropriate conditions for microbial growth and/or alcohol production, can be critical to maintaining optimal microbial growth and/or alcohol productivities. For example, during initial start-up of a fermentation, the primary goal may be microbial growth. However, when the desired microbial density is achieved, the primary goal may be alcohol production. Understanding how the product profile changes over the course of a fermentation, as the changes occur, particularly in response to changes in operating conditions can allow an operator to optimise productivity.
Providing a substrate comprising CO and optionally H2 at an optimum level, or within an optimum range for particular requirements, such as rapid growth and/or alcohol production, can also be challenging. For example, too much CO can lead to CO inhibition as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,285,402, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, too little CO and metabolic rates including microbial growth and alcohol production, can decrease.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process that goes at least some way towards overcoming the above disadvantages, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.